Oath of Office

We never give it a thought when we sign our names to a 78-page document agreeing to whatever terms and conditions the document entails. We are in a hurry to use the new game, application, or program that our computers and electronic gadgets are downloading.

If we are so casual and eager to sign a document that we have no idea what it says nor do we care or understand its ramifications, I wonder, how valuable is the oath of office that public employees must swear in order to uphold the rules, duties, and responsibilities implied therein? Do judges uphold the law impartially as they swore to do, or do they interpret each case before the court to suit their political views, their activism, or the administration of the moment? Do police officers serve and protect everyone equally and take bullets in the line of duty for total strangers because they have sworn an oath to defend all citizens from harm? Do soldiers swear allegiance to the Constitution, knowing that they place their lives in harm’s way for their country, for their fellow Americans who sometimes disrespect what they do and deride their patriotism?

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Do men and women in uniform know and understand that they might give their lives for the indolent and malcontent squatters who claim that the rich owe them a living from cradle to grave? Would all soldiers defend the Constitution if called upon to do so, or would they follow orders contrary to their oath? Should we weep in outrage that Old Glory, our cherished flag, the last cloth that drapes returning coffins from the battlefield, is burned and trampled by other Americans who do not care about the sacrifice, altruism, and exceptionalism of their fellow American volunteer soldiers? Many generations of Americans gave their lives for our freedom to speak freely and assemble anywhere we want peacefully. They swore an oath and kept it. They had honor. Did they die so that malcontents can burn the flag, demand the wealth of the rich in doped-up frenzy, infringe on our rights to enjoy a park free of litter, free of bums urinating and defecating in public, free of paid youth without a compass who direct their supposed anger to the wrong segment of society? The very people who destroyed their ability to find a job are the ones stoking hatred and paying them to protest the rest of us who are job creators and engines of economic growth. Did TSA agents remember the oath they had signed and sworn to protect Americans from potential terrorism? They must have forgotten, otherwise they would not be groping and molesting innocent Americans, the elderly, the handicapped, and small children, in their misplaced eagerness to accomplish the ill-advised marching orders. Have Congressmen forgotten that they had sworn an oath to protect and serve the interests of the American people, that they truly are civil servants to the Republic? They certainly behave as omnipotent masters not servants to the people. The laws they pass are so damaging and counterproductive to the interests of “we the people” that their oath has become meaningless and worthless. Have teachers forgotten that their duty is to disseminate the truth objectively, free of hatred, envy, personal ideology, religious creed, union and party affiliation bias? Have they forgotten their very important moral responsibility to shape future Americans in our Founding Fathers’ wise vision? Will doctors violate the Hippocratic Oath in order to deliver “socially just” and rationed medical care according to the new and improved Obama healthcare law? Will they provide lesser care to the detriment of the patients in order to fulfill the law’s requirements? Will firefighters and police officers be unable to respond to the citizens’ needs as quickly and as often, because Congress failed to pass Obama’s new and generous for unions jobs bill, or will they follow their oath? When we sign our names on a document, a promissory note, a contract, a bank check, an oath of office, we put our honor on the line and agree to deliver on that promise. Honor is the last bastion of our humanity, of our freedom. Honor defines who we are. As Publilius Syrus said, “What is left when honor is lost?” Without honor, we are nothing, and we have nothing.